


It's the Thought That Counts

by Mangoesaregood8



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Breakfast, Camping, Comfort, Cooking, Cute, Gen, Surprises
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-11
Updated: 2019-09-11
Packaged: 2020-10-14 07:45:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20597198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mangoesaregood8/pseuds/Mangoesaregood8
Summary: Ignis does a lot for the boys, so they want to surprise Ignis to show him how much he means to them.  Little does Ignis know that he's in for more than one surprise.





	It's the Thought That Counts

"Ugh… it's so early…" Noctis was slumped over in his chair, trying his hardest to keep his eyes open, but they just wouldn't cooperate. 

The sun had yet to crest over the horizon, though the sky had already grown a few shades lighter. Their campfire was providing most of the light. It had reduced down to embers overnight, but Gladio built it up until it was roaring again. The wood crackled as flames licked their way up each stick. Their shadows danced across the ground as a gentle breeze blew around camp. 

"I know, but Ignis wakes up at the crack of dawn," Gladio said. "It wouldn't be a surprise if he's watching us the whole time."

"I'm with Noct. It's too early for this." Prompto rubbed at his eyes, still blurry with sleep and stretched his back. 

"Can't you take care of the cooking? Noctis asked. 

"All by myself?" Gladio frowned and crossed his arms over his chest. "We all agreed we wanted to do something for Ignis. That means we all gotta pitch in." 

Noctis groaned and slumped further down in his chair. 

"What are we making anyway?" Prompto asked. "We couldn't decide last night."

Gladio leaned against the grill and rubbed at his chin as he thought. "I don't know… What does Ignis like to eat?"

"Anything fancy if we go off what he makes for dinner," Noctis said. 

"Yeah, but he still eats when we go to the Crow's Nest," Prompto added. 

"Why don't we keep it simple?" Gladio asked. "Pancakes, bacon, and eggs."

"Do we even have the ingredients for that? It's been a while since we stopped at a store," Noctis said. 

"Let's see." Gladio opened the cooler and rifled through its contents. He pulled out each ingredient one at a time. They still had a full carton of eggs. Did Ignis somehow stock up without any of them noticing? He dug deeper. Two packs of bacon. That should be enough, right? They even had a carton of milk. "Looks like we're good to go. There's some flour in the back of the Regalia. Go grab it for me Noct."

"Why me?" Noctis asked. 

"Because walking around will help you wake up. Get moving."

"I'll go with you buddy. Come on." Prompto slowly got to his feet and headed to the parked car.

"I'm right behind you." Noctis begrudgingly trudged after Prompto.

Gladio prepared the rest of their supplies, pulling out bowls and a whisk, and lit the grill. Once he had a steady fire going, he set the griddle on top of it and waited as it heated up, then he sat down on the cooler. He needed the flour before he could start on the pancakes. 

Noctis and Prompto returned a few minutes later. Noctis shoved the bag at Gladio and returned to his chair. "Wake me up when breakfast is ready."

"No way. You're helping cook too. I want you to make the eggs," Gladio said. 

"Fine." Noctis grabbed a bowl and the carton of eggs. 

"What should I do?" Prompto asked. 

"You work on the bacon," Gladio said. He took a few eggs from Noctis, then worked on whipping up the pancake batter. He stirred the ingredients together, working out all of the lumps, until he had a smooth, thick batter going. 

Noctis cracked eggs into his bowl, added some milk, and stirred until everything was well combined. 

Prompto took a few strips of bacon and laid them on the griddle. They immediately started sizzling and popping as they cooked. "Hey, is there gonna be enough room for all of us to cook at once?"

"Should be." Gladio poured a spoonful of batter on the griddle. He tried his best to keep the batter from dripping everywhere, but wasn't very successful. 

"We have any oil?" Noctis asked. 

"I'm not sure where it is. Use the grease from the bacon to keep your eggs from sticking," Gladio said. 

"Alright. Scoot over big guy." Noctis bumped Gladio to the side with his hip and poured the eggs onto the griddle. Some of them splashed up and over the side of the grill.

"Watch where you're pouring that!" Gladio pulled his hand away, but not before droplets of eggs splattered on his arm."

"Sorry." Noctis moved the eggs around with a spatula to keep them from sticking, and to make sure they cooked evenly. 

Prompto let the bacon cook on one side for a few minutes before using a fork to flip them over. He flinched away each time the grease popped, doing his best to avoid burning himself. 

The sun finally peeked over the horizon, painting the sky with a golden orange hue. 

"We need to hurry up," Gladio said. "Ignis’ll be up any minute now.”

The sunlight poured in through one of the air vents in their tent, shining directly on Ignis’s face. They had left the vents open because it was so hot out last night, but now Ignis wished they had kept them closed. He turned off the alarm on his phone. He wouldn’t be going back to sleep at this point. The tactician sat up slowly and blinked the sleep from his eyes before putting on his glasses. He turned to wake up Gladio, but the man wasn’t there. He looked around the tent to find it empty. All of the blankets and pillows from last night were still strewn across the floor, but the three other men were nowhere in sight. What were the odds that all three of them had woken up before Ignis? He was used to Gladio being up early to go for a run, or train out in the woods, but even then it was still rare for Gladio to be awake before Ignis. It was unheard of for Noctis and Prompto to be up so early. While Prompto didn’t sleep in as late as Noctis, they both usually woke up around the time breakfast was ready.

Ignis ran over the possibilities in his head. What would have caused all three men to be up and about before him? Could they not sleep? Unless… had they been attacked? Ignis popped open and can of Ebony and gulped down half of it. He would be useless in combat without any caffeine. He rushed out of the tent, daggers in hand, ready to face whatever enemy had encroached on their campsite.

“Woah Specs, slow down,” Noctis said. The eggs had finished cooking and now he was spooning some onto their plates.

“What’s wrong Ignis?” Gladio asked. He set down the spatula and looked around. “You hear something?”

“I…” Ignis hesitated and tried to take in the scene before him. Sensing no immediate threat, he put his daggers away. “I’m not usually the last one to wake up in the morning, so I was concerned something had happened.”

“If we were in a fight, you’d know it,” Prompto said. He was pulling the last strips of bacon off the griddle and onto a serving plate.

“Yeah, don’t think we’d leave you out of the action.” Gladio picked up his spatula again and quickly flipped the last few pancakes onto a plate to stop them from burning.

“What’s all this then?” Ignis asked. Noctis had helped him out in the kitchen before from time to time, so seeing the prince cooking was no surprise. Gladio had mentioned a few times how he had to make dinner for Iris when their father was working late. And Prompto… He wasn’t aware that Prompto even knew how to cook at all. From what little he knew of Prompto’s childhood, most of what Prompto ate consisted of fast food, or was from a convenience store. 

“You always do so much for us, so we wanted to do something for your for a change,” Prompto explained.

Noctis nodded in agreement and set their plates down on the cooler. It served as their makeshift table when they weren’t camping at a caravan. “We wanted to surprise you, so Gladio suggested we all work together to make breakfast.”

“I see.” Ignis surveyed the plates, then the state of the rest of his cooking supplies. He tended to clean as he went, which made the whole clean up process much more manageable. The three men clearly had a much different process. All of his bowls were dirty, along with various utensils. The griddle was still coated with grease and cooked on egg. That would be a nightmare to scrub off later. And then there was the grill. Ignis didn’t want to know what was dripping down the sides. Was that batter?

“Do you not like it?” Prompto asked.

“It’s not that. I’m touched really. I appreciate the sentiment.” Ignis continued surveying the damage, trying to figure out how much time it would take him to clean up the mess. “Could you all do me a favor in the future?”

“What’s up Iggy?” Gladio asked.

“Please never cook for me again.”

“I knew we should have gotten him that massage at Galdin,” Noctis muttered.

Gladio elbowed Noctis in the side. “Shut it.”

“Thank you for breakfast though.” Ignis chuckled and took his seat beside the fire. Even though he had one hell of a mess to clean up after, he had to admit that it was nice to not have to cook breakfast for once. He cooked for their group so often that it had become second nature to him. He didn’t think much of it at this point, but it was heartwarming to know that the other boys appreciated having him around.


End file.
